Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visits China and India under shadow of Ukraine war
CNN
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting his counterparts in China and India this week -- two countries under pressure to condemn Russia's actions in Ukraine as the death toll from the unprovoked conflict rises.
Lavrov met first with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday before a planned flight to India on Thursday, in only his second trip abroad since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
On paper, Lavrov's meeting with Wang was ostensibly about the turmoil in Afghanistan. But one expert said it was "inconceivable" they wouldn't discuss the situation in Ukraine, including harsh sanctions imposed by the international community on Russia and its ally Belarus.
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
More than 80 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon and northern Gaza since late Saturday, according to reports.
Several United Nations agencies are again sounding the alarm on the rapid deterioration of humanitarian conditions in much of Gaza and the civilian toll of more than a year of Israeli military operations.
France condemned the brief detention of two consulate members after it said Israeli police forced their way into a French-owned holy site in Jerusalem, in what is the latest diplomatic spat in a series of events that have sent relations between the two plummeting.
An Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in northern Gaza killed at least 27 people, relief officials said, as the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders in the area – where it is mounting a major offensive.
If his first term in the White House is any indication, President-elect Donald Trump is likely to keep the Middle East high on his agenda.
Rights groups say journalist Reza Valizadeh has been detained, amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
A female student stripped to her underwear outside her university in Iran in what some student and rights groups say was a protest against the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
Israel is at a “high level of readiness” for a response from Iran, an Israeli military source told CNN, as US officials visited the Middle East for a renewed push to resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Follow live updates.